Social media use among young rheumatologists and basic scientists: results of an international survey by the Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET)
Open accessAbstract
Objectives To explore perceptions, barriers and patterns of social media (SM) use among rheumatology fellows and basic scientists.Methods An online survey was disseminated via Twitter, Facebook and by email to members of the Emerging European League Against Rheumatism Network. Questions focused on general demographics, frequency and types of SM use, reasons and barriers to SM use.Results Of 233 respondents (47 countries), 72% were aged 30-39 years, 66% female. 83% were active users of at least one SM platform and 71% were using SM professionally. The majority used SM for communicating with friends/colleagues (79%), news updates (76%), entertainment (69%), clinical (50%) and research (48%) updates. Facebook was the dominant platform used (91%). SM was reported to be used for information (81%); for expanding professional networks (76%); new resources (59%); learning new skills (47%) and establishing a professional online presence (46%). 30% of non-SM users justified not using SM due to lack of knowledge.Conclusions There was a substantial use of SM by rheumatologists and basic scientists for social and professional reasons. The survey highlights a need for providing learning resources and increasing awareness of the use of SM. This could enhance communication, participation and collaborative work, enabling its more widespread use in a professional manner.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so the self-check wasn’t run.
Cites
Social media use and participation: a meta-analysis of current research
Boulianne, S. (2015) · Information Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2015.1008542 · Cited by 1,395 · see citing works
A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation
Dijkmans, C., Kerkhof, P., & Beukeboom, C. J. (2015) · Tourism Management · doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.005 · Cited by 515 · see citing works
Social media models, technologies, and applications
Ngai, E. W. T., Moon, K., Lam, S. S., Chin, E., & Tao, S. S. C. (2015) · Industrial Management & Data Systems · doi:10.1108/imds-03-2015-0075 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Shore, R., Halsey, J., Shah, K., Crigger, B.-J., & Douglas, S. P. (2011) · The Journal of Clinical Ethics · doi:10.1086/jce201122208 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Social Media Use by Health Care Professionals and Trainees: A Scoping Review
Hamm, M. P., Chisholm, A., Shulhan, J., Milne, A., Scott, S. D., Klassen, T. P., & Hartling, L. (2013) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e31829eb91c · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Adilman, R., Rajmohan, Y., Brooks, E., Urgoiti, G. R., Chung, C., Hammad, N., Trinkaus, M., Naseem, M., Simmons, C., Adilman, R., et al. (2016) · Journal of Oncology Practice · doi:10.1200/jop.2015.006429 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
TEL @work: Toward integration of theory and practice
Tynjälä, P., Häkkinen, P., & Hämäläinen, R. (2014) · British Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.1111/bjet.12164 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Technology in postgraduate medical education: a dynamic influence on learning?
Bullock, A. D., & Webb, K. (2015) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-132809 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Rothman, M. L., Gnanaskathy, A., Wicks, P. J., & Papadopoulos, E. J. (2015) · Value in Health · doi:10.1016/j.jval.2014.10.001 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
The social (media) side to rheumatology
Berenbaum, F. (2014) · Nature Reviews Rheumatology · doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2014.20 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationAtherton, H., & Majeed, A. (2011) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60917-3 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Usability of a virtual community of practice for workforce development of clinical supervisors
Mather, C. A., & Cummings, E. A. (2014) · Studies in health technology and informatics · doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-427-5-104 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Use of Social Network Sites for Communication Among Health Professionals: Systematic Review
Chan, W. S., & Leung, A. Y. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.8382 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Vukušić Rukavina, T., Viskić, J., Machala Poplašen, L., Relić, D., Marelić, M., Jokic, D., & Sedak, K. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/25770 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
“Lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier [39,69,74,79,91,93,96], as well as lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of SM [33,39,76,79,93,118].”
InfluentialThe science of YouTube: What factors influence user engagement with online science videos?
Yang, S., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0267697 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Social media for research, education and practice in rheumatology
Zimba, O., Radchenko, О. М., & Strilchuk, L. M. (2019) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-019-04493-4 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Social media platforms: a primer for researchers
Zimba, O., & Gasparyan, A. Y. (2021) · Reumatologia/Rheumatology · doi:10.5114/reum.2021.102707 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
IgG4-Related Disease: Beyond Glucocorticoids
Akiyama, M., & Takeuchi, T. (2018) · Drugs & Aging · doi:10.1007/s40266-018-0534-6 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Moving towards online rheumatology education in the era of COVID-19
Ahmed, S., Zimba, O., & Gasparyan, A. Y. (2020) · Clinical Rheumatology · doi:10.1007/s10067-020-05405-9 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Álvarez-Mon, M. Á., Llavero-Valero, M., Asúnsolo, Á., Zaragozá, C., Ortega, M. A., Fraile‐Μartinez, O., Quintero, J., & Álvarez‐Mon, M. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/24336 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Post-publication promotion in rheumatology: a survey focusing on social media
Haldule, S., Davalbhakta, S., Agarwal, V., Gupta, L., & Agarwal, V. (2020) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-020-04700-7 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Nutzung von Medizin-Apps und Online-Plattformen unter deutschen Rheumatologen
Rheumatologen, A. J., Knitza, J., Vossen, D., Geffken, I., Krusche, M., Meyer, M., Sewerin, P., Kleyer, A., & Hueber, A. J. (2018) · Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie · doi:10.1007/s00393-018-0578-3 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Social Media and the Orthopaedic Surgeon: a Mixed Methods Study
(2019) · Acta Informatica Medica · doi:10.5455/aim.2019.27.23-28 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ahmed, S., & Gupta, L. (2020) · Indian Journal of Rheumatology · doi:10.4103/injr.injr_15_20 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Digital crowdsourcing: unleashing its power in rheumatology
Krusche, M., Burmester, G. R., & Knitza, J. (2020) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217697 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Challenges for social media editors in rheumatology journals: an outlook
Pineda, C., Pérez‐Neri, I., & Sandoval, H. (2019) · Clinical Rheumatology · doi:10.1007/s10067-019-04586-2 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Ziadé, N., Hmamouchi, I., & Kibbi, L. E. (2022) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.880285 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Digital Medicine in Rheumatology
Venuturupalli, S., Sufka, P., & Bhana, S. (2018) · Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.rdc.2018.09.010 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Erdoğan, M., Aydin, O., & Seyahi, E. (2021) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-021-05047-3 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
#EULAR2018: The Annual European Congress of Rheumatology—a Twitter hashtag analysis
Negrón, J. B. (2019) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-019-04249-0 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Deldar, K., Froutan, R., Sedaghat, A., & Mazloum, S. R. (2020) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-020-02159-5 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Do you tweet?: trailing the connection between Altmetric and research impact!
Studenic, P., & Ospelt, C. (2020) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2019-001034 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationNajm, A., Kostine, M., Pauling, J. D., Ferreira, A. C., Stevens, K., Smith, E. M. D., Eguíluz‐Gracia, I., Studenic, P., Rodríguez‐Carrio, J., Ramiro, S., et al. (2020) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001398 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationApps und ihre Anwendungsgebiete in der Rheumatologie
Krusche, M., Ruffer, N., Grahammer, M., & Knitza, J. (2020) · Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie · doi:10.1007/s00393-020-00822-2 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Conducting research in a pandemic: The power of social media
Hausmann, J. S., Sufka, P., Bhana, S., Liew, J. W., Machado, P., Wallace, Z. S., Costello, W., Robinson, P. C., Yazdany, J., Grainger, R., et al. (2020) · European Journal of Rheumatology · doi:10.5152/eurjrheum.2020.2066 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
‘Twitterland’: a brave new world?
Nikiphorou, E., Studenic, P., Alunno, A., Canavan, M., Jani, M., & Berenbaum, F. (2017) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212273 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationRodríguez‐Carrio, J., Putrik, P., Gwinnutt, J. M., Sepriano, A. R., Alunno, A., Ramiro, S., Leipe, J., & Nikiphorou, E. (2020) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2019-001139 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationAli, S. S., & Wincup, C. (2022) · Rheumatology and Immunology Research · doi:10.2478/rir-2022-0030 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Hiltunen, J., Parmanne, P., Sokka, T., Lamberg, T., Isomäki, P., Kaipiainen‐Seppänen, O., Peltomaa, R., Uutela, T., Pirilä, L., Taimen, K., et al. (2021) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-021-04955-8 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Kwan, Y. H., Phang, J. K., Woon, T. H., Liew, J. W., Dubreuil, M., Proft, F. N., Ramiro, S., Moltó, A., Navarro‐Compán, V., de Hooge, M., et al. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/39155 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Global practice guidelines in rheumatology: a cross-sectional altmetric and citation analysis
Zimba, O., Korkosz, M., Alnaimat, F., Fragoulis, G. E., Yessirkepov, M., Baimukhamedov, C., & Koçyiğit, B. F. (2025) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-025-05899-z · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Patient–Physician Interaction on Social Media: The Physician’s Point of View
Nikiphorou, E., & Berenbaum, F. (2018) · EMJ Innovations · doi:10.33590/emjinnov/10313038 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationBella, S. L., Breda, L., & Ravelli, A. (2024) · The Journal of Rheumatology · doi:10.3899/jrheum.2024-0408 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Bella, S. L., Attanasi, M., Ludovico, A. D., Mainieri, F., Lauriola, F., Silvestrini, L., Ciarelli, F., Osmelli, J., Girlando, V., Rinaldi, M., et al. (2025) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-025-05809-3 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Social media and rheumatology societies: Strategic insights
Alvarillo, D., & Nikiphorou, E. (2022) · Rheumatology and Immunology Research · doi:10.2478/rir-2022-0032 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationAbbasi-Perez, A., Álvarez-Mon, M. Á., Donat‐Vargas, C., Ortega, M. A., Monserrat, J., Pérez-Gómez, A., & Álvarez‐Mon, M. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11111526 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Réseaux sociaux : quel impact sur la formation en ophtalmologie ?
Alami, F. E., Moursli, Y., Chikhaoui, S., Mchachi, A., Benhmidoune, L., Chakib, A., Rachid, R., & Elbelhadji, M. (2021) · Journal Français d Ophtalmologie · doi:10.1016/j.jfo.2021.08.008 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
e-Health, social media, and rheumatology: Can they get along?
Berenbaum, F. (2017) · Joint Bone Spine · doi:10.1016/j.jbspin.2017.12.007 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationSocial media in advancing equity and collaboration in rheumatology: the CORDIALITY review
Hmamouchi, I., Ziadé, N., Adebajo, A., Gupta, L., Mehta, P., MIGOWA, A. N., Nikiphorou, E., Rolle, N. A., Saygın, D., Singh, N., et al. (2025) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2025-005490 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationEMerging EULAR NETwork (EMEUNET): a remarkable foundation for the future
Alunno, A., Rivellese, F., Lauper, K., Aletaha, D., Buch, M. H., Gossec, L., Mandl, P., Machado, P., Ospelt, C., Moltó, A., et al. (2021) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2021-001962 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationBella, S. L., Rebollo-Giménez, A. I., Aouad, K., Gupta, L., Kragstrup, T. W., Bayraktar, D., Davergne, T., Cangelosi, D., Hügle, T., Knitza, J., et al. (2026) · EULAR Rheumatology Open · doi:10.1016/j.ero.2026.03.001 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Wang, B., Li, F., Gao, C., & Li, X. (2019) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.5448 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Video Engagement Effectiveness on Climate Change: An empirical investigation on university students
Saprikis, V., Shahbazi, Z., Christodoulou, V., Bächtold, M., Aharonson, V., & Nowaczyk, S. (2024) · E3S Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202458504002 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Knitza, J., Rheumatologen, A. J., Vossen, D., Geffken, I., Krusche, M., Meyer, M., Sewerin, P., Kleyer, A., & Hueber, A. J. (2019) · Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Social Media – Chancen und Risiken für die Rheumatologie
Haase, I., Mücke, J., Vossen, D., Knitza, J., Ruffer, N., Zeeck, M., & Krusche, M. (2022) · Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie · doi:10.1007/s00393-022-01201-9 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Social media landscape: a cross-sectional survey of health professionals
Auanassova, A., Jatuworapruk, K., Sarkar, M., Yessirkepov, M., Mukhamediyarov, M., Traboco, L. S., Goel, A., Zimba, O., Agarwal, V., Nikiphorou, E., et al. (2025) · Rheumatology International · doi:10.1007/s00296-025-06000-4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationYi, P., & Zheng, Z. (2019) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.1807 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Impact of Social Media on the Professional Development of Health Professionals
Khatta, M., & Ravish, G. (2024) · IEEE International Conference on Computing, Power and Communication Technologies (IC2PCT) · doi:10.1109/ic2pct60090.2024.10486208 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The impact of social media and online communities of practice in rheumatology
Seraphine, J. L., & Wells, A. F. (2024) · Exploration of Musculoskeletal Diseases · doi:10.37349/emd.2024.00072 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Train to target – How we might learn in the future
Krusche, M., Knitza, J., & Burmester, G. R. (2020) · Joint Bone Spine · doi:10.1016/j.jbspin.2020.105126 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Building the future of rheumatology: the role of national and international networks
Jani, M., Nikiphorou, E., Croft, A. P., & Bukhari, M. A. S. (2017) · Lara D. Veeken · doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kew509 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation« Train to Target » – Les méthodes d’apprentissage de demain
Krusche, M., Knitza, J., & Burmester, G. (2021) · Revue du Rhumatisme · doi:10.1016/j.rhum.2021.10.566 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Kvien, T. K. (2017) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212235
E-santé, réseaux sociaux et rhumatologie : compatibles ou pas ?
Berenbaum, F. (2017) · Revue du Rhumatisme · doi:10.1016/j.rhum.2017.10.022
Self-citationAB1302B CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS
Chebotareva, N. V., Androsova, T. V., & Kuznezova, E. V. (2019) · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases · doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-eular.368
Kwan, Y. H., Phang, J. K., Woon, T. H., Liew, J. W., Dubreuil, M., Proft, F. N., Ramiro, S., Moltó, A., Navarro‐Compán, V., de Hooge, M., et al. (2022) · doi:10.2196/preprints.39155
Turning your paper into a digital influencer
da Mota, L. M. H., Negrisolli, M. L. M., Lopes, E. D. A., & de Albuquerque, C. P. (2023) · Joint Bone Spine · doi:10.1016/j.jbspin.2023.105573
Faites de votre article un influenceur numérique
da Mota, L. M. H., Negrisolli, M. L. M., Lopes, E. D. A., & de Albuquerque, C. P. (2023) · Revue du Rhumatisme · doi:10.1016/j.rhum.2023.07.017
Descriptive study on the use of social media among Spanish-speaking Rheumatology professionals
Ferre-Sanfrancisco, M., Hita, J. L. M., Herrera, S., Rojas, A., Caballero-Uribe, C. V., & Villa, C. C. M. (2024) · Clinical Rheumatology · doi:10.1007/s10067-024-07055-7
Global social media use among rheumatology professionals: the EULAR SoMeR Study Group survey
Gupta, L., Sarkar, M., Sparks, J. A., Carmona, L., Rahulan, L. M., Talreja, T., Agarwal, V., Caballero-Uribe, C. V., Dey, D., Edwards, C. J., et al. (2025) · RMD Open · doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2025-006179
Self-citationInsights on unmet needs from a survey among social media editors by EMEUNET
Gupta, L., Sadovici-Bobeică, V., Kragstrup, T. W., Gudu, T., Farisoğulları, B., Rodríguez‐Carrio, J., Bergstra, S. A., Benavent, D., Nikiphorou, E., & Carmona, L. (2026) · EULAR Rheumatology Open · doi:10.1016/j.ero.2026.01.011
Self-citationCitation of Scientific Evidence from Video Description and Its Association with Attention and Impact
Dorta–González, P., & Dorta-González, M. I. (2026) · Publications · doi:10.3390/publications14030045
- Authors
- Nikiphorou, E., Studenic, P., Ammitzbøll, C. G., Canavan, M., Jani, M., Ospelt, C., & Berenbaum, F.
- Affiliations
- Whittington Hospital (GB)
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- University Hospital Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Nikiphorou, Elena
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-04
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 712-715
- ISSN
- 0003-4967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2538806826
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 7.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Academic Publishing and Open Access
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Media and Digital Communication
- Keywords
- social media use, rheumatologists, basic scientists, professional networking, barriers to social media use, Facebook, EULAR, professional communication
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Fellowships and Scholarships, Female, Humans, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rheumatology, Biomedical Research, Information Seeking Behavior, Social Networking, Social Media
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
